Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has proposed creation of 12 new Notified Area Councils (NACs) across seven districts – Angul, Sonepur, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Bhadrak.
The Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department has issued a draft notification, inviting feedback and objections from residents and stakeholders within a specified time. It is part of the state’s urban development initiative to boost economic growth and development in smaller urban centres by providing better infrastructure and services to the residents.
A Notified Area Council is established to manage fast-developing towns that are yet to attain the status of a municipality. NACs help provide better civic amenities and targeted development.
In May, H8UD Minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra had said that the government aims to increase urban coverage in the state from the current 17 per cent to 30 per cent by announcing new NACs and municipalities.
Once finalised, the 12 proposed areas will officially become NACs, giving people access to improved facilities like reliable water supply, better sanitation and waste management, road development and street lighting, market infrastructure and dedicated urban development funds.
Last month, the government had announced to upgrade Puri Municipality to a municipal corporation by merging several adjoining villages from the adjoining Brahmagiri block with the holy town, keeping in mind the town’s growing population and the increasing influx of devotees over the years.
In February last year ahead of the twin elections, the then Odisha government created 34 NACs in 20 districts to run civic body administration in those places and upgraded five NACs – Boudhgarh in Boudh, Karanjia in Mayurbhanj, Kantabanji in Balangir, Chhatrapur and Aska in Ganjam districts – into municipalities, taking the total number of urban local bodies to 149.